The seesaw
by Pa-pavero
Summary: He was drawn back by the crystalline, almost piercing sound from the seesaw... chapter 2!
1. Prologue

**Hi! **

**I don't know if I can make this a long fanfiction or just a one-shot... tell me what do you think! If yes, it will show the relationship between Naruto and Iruka. Mostly on Iruka's POV. **

**I accept advides and tell me about my grammatical\ortografical mistakes because English is not my first language so I want to improve it. Thankyou very much and...**

**...good reading to you all!**

**_1- The seesaw_ **

He was drawn back by the crystalline, almost piercing sound from the seesaw.

Iruka stopped dead, frowning. It was night, and he believe children had to be asleep around eleven _post meridian_, so why that sound…? He turned slowly, and when he caught a shadow sited on the seesaw, he got a lot surprised. He was far from it, and he couldn't see plainly thanks to the light's deficiency. He was sure, well, _almost_ sure, the shade belonged from a child. It was too small to be owned by an adult like him. He then approached slowly, trying to not scare anybody was there.

He was right, at least. Iruka got surprised at any rate, because it was fairly odd to find a lonely child in the middle of night playing in the park. He believed kids weren't just enough brave to run away from home to just have fun. In the while, the child noticed nothing, and if he was pretending to not notice, then he was truly good at it. He didn't cringe, and he was no bothered by him at all. He was concerned by another world his eyes were looking inside.

He was little, he couldn't be over six. Iruka was surprised he never saw him at school since children of those ages were already enrolled. Well… he frowned again. His face was new; he appeared to be blond, with light eyes, even if with the lack of light it was hard to tell. The expression, though, was obvious. Too obvious for his likings, when he noticed that child was truly sad. _Why is that? _He wanted to understand why.

"Hey?" He said unhurriedly. Iruka didn't want to scare him. The child, though, didn't seem to catch him "hey… hey?" he tried again. He felt like an idiot, but this time the kid heard him.

He cringed fiercely, rising his face. Inside his gaze passed by a flash of panic which made him left the seesaw. He stepped back a little, hands already in front of him to shield himself. The seesaw oscillated for few minutes, then stopping with a slight noise. The child was panting, surely thanks to the sudden adrenaline.

"Sorry, did I scare you…? I'm sorry, hm, what are you doing out here alone?"

The child was looking around, frightened. Iruka was a ninja, after all, and he noticed the kid was behaving the same way as a terrified prey. His eyes were flicking around… he was trying to find a way to escape, in the while thinking what option was the best.

"I don't want to hurt you" he said with a kind tone "you don't have to be scared of me. I was only worried because you were all alone in the night…"

The fear had been erased by a suddenly… it was hard to believe, but that child had just looked at him with the deepest scepticism and abhorrence, like he couldn't even start to believe what the man had just said.

Iruka sighed. He couldn't believe what he was doing. Was it the right choice to stop and talk to that strange child? _Well, what's done is done.. and plus, he's only a child. __Even if he wanted to kill you, he couldn't, right, Iruka?_

"Listen" he tried another way "what's your name? Where are your parents?"

"Hmph" if the was the answer he got back. disgust… no, his eyes were full of hatred towards him and he couldn't understand where it could come from because they had just met.

"You know, it's not kind to not answer questions… kid. Did you know it?"

Once again, the child shuddered and he looked more scared than before. There was so little light, but Iruka noticed he was trying his best to hold back tears. And he was _shaking_.

"Ok, ok… didn't mean… I don't want to scare you. You can tell me your name, I swear I won't use it against your will! I swear! And by the way, my name's Iruka" he smiled.

The child was still a lot, _excessively_ uncertain about what to do. He was keeping on looking around to flee, and in the while his eyes tried to lock on him, like he was ready for a sudden attack. Could he be _that_ anxious around a stranger? Iruka waited few minutes. The man didn't know how many minutes passed, but unexpectedly a little, sharp voice said "you want to hurt me?" He wasn't too fond about children (which it was _a little_ strange being a teacher and all) but he felt a entrenched fear beyond the words. He didn't even tried to understand if and when there had been situations when…

…bah, it was too awful to even think to "no, I don't want to hurt you. Why have I to?" The child wasn't really satisfied by the answer, though. He was infinitesimally less scared.

"Listen…" he paused to sigh "I don't know what they did to you, but _I_ don't want to hurt you or anything. I don't thin is right to hurt a child… and anyway, I have to hate you to hurt you, at least, right? And why I have to hate you if I had just met you? Hm?"

The surprise hit them both. The kid was manifestly shocked by his words, even if the man didn't know if he was glad or scared, but Iruka's astonishment came when the kid said, voice full of provocation "I'm Naruto"

He stopped, physically and mentally. He expected a lot, but not… _that_. His brain somehow rejected that idea. The child, that _scared_ child, was the child that Iruka hated just because he was holding the seal of the nine-tale fox, is parent's killer? His mind touched the pinnacle of the so-called folly, when he was taken between rage and hate, and a stabbing guilty feeling. He didn't know what was right. He didn't _who_ was right. Were his parents right, the ones telling him to not care for the child. Was the child right? His voice was echoing, the words he said before, when he was truly terrified.

Naruto, in the while, was watching him, placidly engrossed by his reaction. He didn't believed _Iruka_ would really go beyond the superficiality, and so he didn't expect much from the senseless chat. Even if he was slightly feeling sad.

"You are… _you are…_" his brain wouldn't work well. It wouldn't take the idea in. He talked until few minutes ago with his parent's killer. That dreadful monster that took the shape of a child and it surely didn't deserve any happiness, when his stole his own "you are… _that_ child…"

_Damn, damn, you're Naruto _"and nothing else, I don't have to hate you…" he caught his voice was shaking. It was cold, but he was sweating as much as he never did. He understood he wasn't talking to a monster, but his parent's voices were still keeping on echoing inside his head. Irritatingly painful, it was their image. He rise his eyes. Naruto was still looking to him, curious and fearful. When their eyes met, he shuddered. This time, he was truly frightened.

Something inside Iruka's eyes made Naruto really upset. The man was watching the child's body fossilize in tension. A little move of his, and he would surely run away scared as hell. He was motionless; small drops of sweat were moving down his pale cheeks.

"Hey…" even Iruka was still shaking a lot "…hey, sorry, didn't want to scare you…"

The child was silent. The man sighed "I'm sorry… I'm really sorry, but I don't want to hurt you, ok? Really, I promise you I won't do anything to hurt you. I won't get angry, ok? You believe me, Naruto?" His words weren't surely _that_ comforting. His voices was still shaking from the disbelief. He swallowed down. He had to calm down, because if not his only way to get to the child had been meaningless.

Naruto was keeping on staying silent, his eyes set on his own. He looked like a little rabbit ready to flee away when a predator was going to arrive. And the predator was Iruka. His pale eyes weren't showing any sign of lucidity, of rationality. He was understanding without doubt what he was saying, but he couldn't elaborate it. The sake of living was what was left. Iruka didn't know at all how to let a child to become like this, to become that panicked just thanks to a small chat.

"You believe me, Naruto?" He licked his lips. It was truly cold, and half and an hour had probably passed by. He wasn't sure, but he didn't care "do you believe me?"

Without thinking, he moved a little. It had been a casual move, but the child was already running away. The situation was getting worse and worse.

"Wait!!"

Iruka followed him. He was too worried, too worried to let him go away. Few minutes were

enough to catch him, and take him between his firm huge.

"Leave me, leave me, please, leave, don't hurt me, leav-"

"Calm down!"

Naruto was kicking, slapping. He was biting him, trying to escape in any possible way. He was anguished, in the deepest panic. And the child knew that to keep motionless in situation like that it was worse than trying to flee. Iruka didn't know that, but he was going to understand what happened. That child… that child didn't even know what to have a relation of some kind with someone was like.

"Calm down, Naruto… I don't want to hurt you… shh, shh, I don't want to hurt you, calm down, really… shh…" he was holding back his emotions to not panic himself as well. The situation was out of his hands and too much. He had to do something, but something what?

"…please, please… let me! I do nothing, I say nothing, I go away, but please, please!! Leave me, let me go!! _Please… p-please…!!_" His voice swiftly turned into a slight, painful sob. Thankful, Iruka noticed he had stopped moving around, but he started to cry. He didn't know if it was right, but he was glad and the situation seemed to get better. At least, he didn't have to be concerned about taking him down. _Right, right… but what now? What have I to do? I don't know what to do… _

"Hey, hey… I don't let you go, but I don't want to hurt you, Naruto"

"_I don't believe you!! I-I don't believe you!! __You all say that, everyone… but afte-"_

"I'm serious"

The child's voice had gotten piercing, broken by fierce sobs. His face was red and warm, like he was feverish. Iruka already gone thought the problem of reassure a child. Sasuke and Choji had cried the first day, not wanting their parents to leave. Kiba cries when he punished him because he hid his dog Akamaru under his table. Sakura cried because Sasuke told her he didn't like pink-haired girl. Little problems, little drops and within few minutes they were again smiling and happy. _But this… _

Iruka was going to collapse. He didn't know at all how to behave. It was like trying to think… _NO!! Don't think about the fox, that monster isn't related to Naruto! They're different things!! _

"Why a-are yo-,,, you doin-ng this!?" Sobbed Naruto. He seemed more angry than scared, now. He had swallowed down his fear, maybe realizing Iruka wasn't going to hurt him "wh-why… why y-you ca-…re ab-…bout m-me!? H-hm!?"

"Why I have to not care, then?"

"…no… no-one d-o…e-s t-that!!"

"And so, I have to not care?"

"B-…but…"

The sobs calmed down, the tears had stopped flowing. The skin around his eyes was red, ate away by the salty water, but his whole face was flushed and he was still panting. Naruto was shaking visibly, and the man did the only thing he could thought of. And he was sure that was going to help. He hardened the grip, but this time moving him inside a real hug, clenching him on his chest.

Naruto squealed with surprise, and Iruka hugged him so firmly he could hear the scared throbbing of his heart inside his chest. He was still scared, but this time _optimistically_. Few minutes passed by, and the child was already hugging him back. Iruka didn't know how many time did they passed out there, in the middle of a garden hugging like idiots and idiots they weren't, inside a freezing night. It was even pleasant, and Iruka was sure the kid wasn't going to let go that easily.

"He-"

"Iruka, what are you doing?"

They both turned hastily to the voice. Not so far, there was a shadow belonging from a woman. She was looking at them with shocked surprise. Iruka remembered she was the mother of one of his students, but he couldn't remember which one.

"Good evening, miss"

He was still hugging the child. Naruto's body was getting tense and more tense thanks to that woman. Iruka cursed her. _What a great timing, really…_ He was sure the child's face was scared as much as he was before.

"What are you doing with that brat? Hope he wasn't bothering you" said that, she shot a chilly stare to the kid, who tried to run away.

Iruka hold him down, ignoring his small arguments and the woman's coldness. He answered back "well, we were having so much fun… right, Naruto?" The child got puzzled but he nodded slowly. The teacher was a little shocked, because that kid was doing his best to remain unemotional. And he was doing a great job, too. _Good child… hope you're going to be a great ninja… _

"Hmph, like you can have fun with a _thing_ like that…" she replied back after a little. She seemed surprised by Iruka's answer.

"Last time I checked he was human, _miss_"

If an hour by they would ask him what he thought about Naruto, he would answer he hated the child with all his might. And now… _strange life, now I'm defending him! _

"Yeah, yeah, whatever… hope my child she's doing well at school" her voice was once again sweet and kind. She was just ignoring Naruto, who didn't care as much as she did. His face was still blank.

"Yes, yes, she's doing very well" to say truth, he couldn't remember which student was her daughter "very well, indeed" he added. He wanted her to leave the soon as possible. He could sense the boy trying to hold back sobs.

"Very well! My child's doing well and I'm so proud of her!" She squealed happily "what parent won't be proud of a child like this? I'm going to tell her how I'm proud of her once I got home!"

He understood… it wasn't nice. He just hoped Naruto couldn't read beyond the words. The woman was remembering him he had no parents. She was trying to make him feel bad but she wasn't brave enough to do that when he was with him. Iruka was going to answer back, but suddenly Naruto screamed "go fuck!!"

"_What!?" _

"Naruto, don't say that!!" _He understood… damn, he understood what she was talking about! _

"Little, meaningless brat, _you know_… just- _just_ how dare you!?" She left the bag she was carrying behind her, moving quickly down to them. The boy had started shaking and he paled so much he looked white as snow. He felt his little hands gritted painfully on his arm and his eyes were wide from the panic. Iruka hated himself, but that was the best way to show the boy he could trust him.

The woman stopped, rising her hand: she was going to slap him. Even if before he mouthed to him he didn't have to be scared, Naruto cried, shutting up his eyes and moving his arms on his face to shield it from the hit. The hit, thought, never came. When he opened again his sapphire eyes, the man was stopping the woman's arm.

She appeared to be utterly shocked and angry "what are you doing, Iruka!? You heard what he said! It's just a bra-"

"_Stop saying he's a thing, because he's human!! And don't try to hit him because I'm going to slap you until you die, you heard me?!"_

"…please, please, stop… don't…" he heard the child whisper near his ear. His body was still shaking from fear "_don't_… if you… I don't want you to… please, don't hurt her… _please?_"

"You're lucky he's kind enoug-"

"Kind enough!? He's a monster!! Let me go!!"

"You're going to hit him!?"

"Of cour-"

"Then I'm not letting you!!"

"_I WILL NOT HIT HIM__! LEAVE ME, DAMN YOU, IRUKA!!"_ She snapped.

"Fine…" he said angrily. His head was throbbing. He didn't want to get that livid, but the stress from the whole situation was killing him. She looked down to him with aberrance.

The man did not think she was going to hit him at any less. He didn't have the time to move, because the damage was already done. He felt the boy's body jerk away at the collision, and his cheek suddenly reddened. He did not cried or screamed, but the expression inside his eyes was panicked. Naruto was going to be like before, when he couldn't even understand what he was saying to him. _Son of a bitch…_

"Go away! Go away from there, _now!!_"

"Tsk" she moved away "I didn't know you were such an idiot, Iruka. You know what _it_ did to you, so why? Stupid man…"

**-----**

**hope you liked it. Tell me if you want fanfiction or one-shot, please! **


	2. Chapter 1 The school

**Hello! How are you? Hope fine!**

**This is chapter one, sorry I took so long but I had to settle thing... after all, thanks to you, I decided it was going to be a long story so I had to decide few things!**

**If someone didn't undestand something, please tell me! I repeat, I love you more if you tell me which mistakes I do so I can improve! **

**From now on, I will try a different way of writing. It's going to be in Iruka's POV and in first person. The chapter 1 (the seesaw) is going to be the prologue, so this is chapter one. And third, sorry about the prologue if it was confused... from now on I'll be the clearest I can! **

**MischievousPuck: thanks for the advice! First of all, yeah, the woman _did_ it Naruto. I'm sorry I wasn't clear about it! **

**callietitan: thankyou very much! I appreciate your comment! **

**takuya: yeah, you're right... Naruto's past is somehow depressing. And maybe I can appear sadic, but it's why I love this anime! I always liked things that belonged to psycology's matter (after all, I'm studying it!). **

**And last thing, I'm pretty new to Naruto's world... so if you notice some mistake of characters or place or other, tell me!**

**Good reading!**

**1. ****School**

It was Monday morning, again. The weekend passed quickly and as I woke up one morning, Sunday had already expired. I usually spend it relaxing and trying to forget just a little about school… but this time, well, _this time _I had a lot to think of.

First of all, that shitty Friday night. The child was filling my mind, every little spot that would like to be empty and peaceful. How much I hated it, I ended worrying to much and the concern quickly turned itself into a painful headache. _How much I hated it, _I'd prefer to never have met with Naruto and just went on hating him. It was better for my health… and maybe for his.

I was scared… scared? Confused, pretty shocked and an assortment of several emotions I was still trying to figure out. _Six shitty years_ on hating that evil little brat, and now, and I was yet a lot bewildered, I was going to love him as a dad loves his son. Well… that was maybe too much. For me. It was still too early to say I could take care of him. Even if I wanted.

Let's say I dragged him home Friday, and Saturday afternoon he ran away! I was so scared he wouldn't go back anymore!

But, really, it was because of guilt. The first problem was beyond doubt that, and maybe it was the only one as well. As I remembered every little bad things I had been thinking about him… and you know what? I'm really a _loser_, because only _losers_ would think about children like that. And above of that, I was a damned teacher. A teacher, God!

Oh well, after have remembered I ended with a painful guilty feeling and everytime I wondered how possibly I could take care of a child (when I couldn't take care of _myself_) my heart had been shattered by a spasm of emotional ache. My mind seemed to work against me. I was frustrated and scared and confused and on the top of all, my head downloaded to my body's content all those shitty emotions even more scattered and awful. To say simple, I felt worse than a shit.

Now, and I felt like my mind is preparing a mental breakdown, I was lying on the green's bed which belonged to me. My dining was silent and empty as it could ever have been. A small wood-made table was sitting in front of me; on it there was few papers of acceptation.

The truth, I've been searching Saturday and Sunday after have asked him how old he was. I found documents that were made to enrol him to school. The director of the Orphanage told me he knew I didn't want him to attend my class, and so he just did what he decided it was right. I felt an hypocrite while saying him he didn't have any right to act like that. He glared at me, but he said he would take of it. I informed him, in my weekend's bad mood, that if Naruto wouldn't show up on Monday, I'd punch him straight on his face.

I sighed. I couldn't have behaved worse than that. I kept on saying I hated him for six years, and suddenly I was angry to anyone that offended him. They probably would think I was an idiot, and I had been fooled by the foolish child.

The clock seemed to ticked louder as I noticed how late it was. _It's half past seven! I have to go to school! _

I didn't have any resolve to go, but I went to school anyway. It was my job, after all. The problem I was too afraid he wouldn't show up… and worse, I was frightened he _would_ show up. I had the feeling he wasn't an easy child to take care of. If what I understood from Friday was the truth, then I was really the first person after the Third that behaved kindly near him, and he didn't have any friend. Start school without friends was really a dreadful thing.

Maybe it wasn't the same. _Surely_, it wasn't the same. The poor little Sasuke Uchiha was as shy as the gentle Hinata Hyuga, but she already knew some girls and so she was dragged inside their playing by force. He, otherwise, didn't know anyone from the start, and so he would still sit around alone and vaguely aware a lot of girl were looking avidly to him.

I was already dressed and my bag was already done. I quickly closed home, starting to run towards the school's building. It wasn't too far away, but I wanted to be early. I wanted to get there before Naruto's arrival, to welcome him. I didn't want him to feel betrayed because I made myself an agreement where I was going to help him whenever he needed me. I was going to be there, wherever he was.

School appeared in front of me. It wasn't over eight, but I was already starting to hear a lot of children's voices squealing happily about what they did during the weekend. I slowed down. I noticed the pink's hair of Sakura Haruno near a slap of blonde's locks. She was chatting fervently with Ino Yamanaka. I found myself smiling a little. They were good friends.

When I finally got there, which and I don't know why, seemed to me like an eternity, the two girls turned to waved enthusiastically at me "hello, Iruka-sensei!!" they squealed contentedly.

"Good morning, Sakura, Ino" I smiled back, but as I was going to ask them if they noticed a certain blond boy, they were already gone. I caught the silhouette of Sasuke and his mom. Sakura and Ino probably caught him as well, and in fact I heard his name being yelled by two, piercing, pleased voices.

"Good morning, miss" I bowed a little passing near the black-haired child's mother. She smiled, but I had no time to stop and talk, even if I'd like to. She was such a kind and beautiful person, and her son was the same. Well, he was similar by face, but he had his old man's attitude. His brother was more like his father, but I didn't know him quite well, and so I couldn't say about his behaviour.

"Iruka-sensei!" I was being pressed by the crowd of people. They were really too many, and I hated crammed full place. I couldn't even turn to look to the boy that called me. I recognized the voice as such as my student's but my neck wasn't able to turn in that pandemonium.

I frowned, I groaned, but I eventually managed to get out. My body was aching from the many punches I hit while moving through it. I sighed. School was going to kill me one day.

"Iruka-sensei!" Kiba was running towards me. The boy was one of the most energetic student I never met. He loved to babble about his wonderful dog even if no one was really caring. He was like that, but he wasn't stupid and neither a bad person. Just a little too agitated sometimes, and when he finally drew near me, he yelled "Iruka-sensei!"

"I heard, Kiba, don't need to yell. What's up?" I asked him. I was a bit out of breath.

"There's a new kid! Why don't you say it was going to arrive a new kid!?"

"A new kid?" _Naruto is already here!? Oh, shit! _"Where is he?"

"Right there!" He pointed to another crowd that had gathered around the seesaw. I was too far away to heard what they were saying. _I have a bad feeling about this…_ I frowned, approaching. Kiba was following me, asking questions whenever he found a new one. After some training, I understood it was better to leave him ask than answering. He would stop by himself.

Closer, I noticed they were all… crossed and annoyed. I somehow expected that. I was surprised a lot of them were women I thought as kind people. Well, people could change, right? I was a living proof, after all. And because of it, they were all going to hate me because I was first part of them.

_You don't have to care, you don't have to care… remember? Naruto's right and they're wrong, just remember that. _

"Ah! Iruka, there you are! I was searching for you!"

A woman and a man approached me. They were beyond anger, they were _infuriated_. They stopped in front of me, pointing behind them, and he said "why is that brat here?" Straight and direct, and beyond there was a rather aggravated tone. He believed he was talking of _somewhat critical_.

"He's going to attend class" I answered, smiling brightly. I excepted this, but I wasn't in mood to argue about that.

"What!?" How funny, his face suddenly paled down and so the face of her sure-to-be-wife! He grinned, though "oh, that's not amusing, Iruka. I thought I heard you said it's going to attend class"

"Yes, _he's_ going to, mister" I repeated, putting a definite weight on the fact he was not an object but a living person.

"Are you crazy!? It can't attend class! It will just causes troubles!"

"Not, he's not going to causes troubles" _calm down, calm down _"and please, Naruto's a person, not a thing or an animal"

His face melted inside an amused and crossed expression "a person? My dog is more human than he is, you know? If it's going to attend class, why cannot my dog?"

The weekend had been a shit, and I was feeling a shitty idiot. Sorry about my manners, but I was stressed and he was wholehearted to have an argument with me! He asked for it, damnit!

"_This is not fun!_ He's going to attend class whenever you like or not!"

"You're ridiculous, Iruka, really, I-"

"Maybe I'm crazy, but I prefer it than being like you!" He _truly_ asked for it!! I moved beyond them, fuming silently but I was really pleased by their shocked looks.

"Hey, let me pass!" I shouted. Few people looked at me as I was mad. I just glared back, and fortunately, the crowd did opened to let me go by.

Naruto was sitting on the seesaw, looking angrily, and yet I noticed he was scared, to all the ones that approached him. His hands were white from the grip, and he was clearly panicking. I couldn't understand, really… didn't they noticed he was frightened as hell? Didn't they noticed they were frightening him? Didn't they noticed his slight, terrified panting?

"I-Iruka-san…" he stuttered out, as he noticed me. He immediately went down from the seesaw and he ran towards me. He set himself at my leg's side, still not daring to touch me. I noticed he was holding a small, yellow bag, and the next thought was that he wasn't yet enough brave to wholly trust me. Oh well, it was a matter of time.

"Finally!" a mother shouted. She took her child, putting the little one on the seesaw itself. The _poor thing_ was way more scared by his parent's behaviour, than the _poor thing_ near me. His mother, though, seemed to not notice, as he glared to Naruto. I grinned secretly. _Didn't she take care at all of his son? He's freaking out, the poor one!_

"Mom…"

"Next time, I'll shove your ass out of it, demon!" Naruto shuddered, hiding beyond me. He was gripping slightly to my right leg. That woman was exaggerated… and what in the hell did he done wrong this time!?

"What happened?" I asked the coolest as possible. Red, like she was enable of breath, she screamed loudly "that brat didn't want to let play my son with the seesaw!!"

And was it a reason? After I asked Naruto why he didn't want, and he answered, with his youngish piercing voice, it was because he had just sited on it, I looked back expectantly to her. And naturally, as I predicted, she yelled back "what!? You're lucky you're still alive!! If it was for me, you weren't going to be there, damn brat!!"

"Yeah!"

"There you are, demon!"

"I'm not a demon!" He stuttered out, still too low to be heard. I heard him, though, and seeing the situation was going out of hands, I said "well, it wasn't his fault, was it? Next time, Naruto, let her son play with it, ok?"

At first he was horrified, confused as I betrayed him, but he soon realized. His light-blue eyes, now bright in the sun's light, nodded along with his head. He understood. He understood I wasn't saying it was his fault, but I just didn't want to start a fight for something futile as it. A little smile came over his lips. _My_ smile came over my lips. What a surprise! He smiled. It wasn't nothing more than a cynic grin, but he did smile. Wasn't it a triumph?

"Why are you smiling, you damn brat!? Why is it smiling, Iruka!?"

"Nothing, miss" I dismissed. She looked annoyed but she didn't replied back. The crowd slowly dispersed, murmuring words of disagreement. They were crossed because for the first time, he won. I looked to the seesaw, and the little boy was still sitting on it, looking annoyed as well. But he was glaring to his own mother.

"Hey, if you want you can go" I told him. He quickly got away from it, running to his classmates. If I understood right, surely the child didn't even want to play with the seesaw.

Then, I looked down. Naruto was… bewilierved by what had just happened. Maybe it was the first time for me as well. He never swallowed a good victory.

"So you came, hm? Did the Orphanage's director say something?"

"Nope"

"I see… so, are you happy you're going to go to school?"

His face enlightened with a rather happy gaze "yep! School is good! Everytime I stopped to look at it, children were always laughing! At school, you laugh!"

He sweat-dropped. _Well… that's not __**quite**__ right… _

The garden was now empty of people, signal it was time to go "we have to go, Naruto" I said, and though he said he was happy, his face paled down. He looked at me with sorrow. _This is the first time for him… guess it's hard for him, but he has to, right?_

"Let's go!" Pushing him by his back with one hand, I managed to walk him to school, well, transported him inside the class. He was being difficult. A little _too_ difficult, and I was already in a somewhat awful mood. I didn't want to end screaming or arguing with him. _Oh, come on…_ And to help me, he suddenly let himself fall on the ground, with an exasperated face. He was all red from the attempts to stop me.

"Come on, Naruto… it's not _that_ bad. School is good… you said that as well, right?"

"I don't wanna!" He yelled stubbornly, crossing his arm and puffing his cheeks. I was annoyed by his behaviour, and yet there was a part of me utterly pleased. He was acting like a child. I never expected him to be such a trusty-person, after few days… but then again, he was a kid, right? He must had been frantic to have faith and be trusted by someone other than himself.

"_I don't wanna!_" He repeated.

"Please, Naruto, we're going to be late…"

"I don't wanna! I don't wanna, Iruka-san! _I don't wanna!!_" As long with his hysterical yells, he suddenly started to cry.

_GOOD! Now he's crying… WHY AM I DOING THIS!?_

"I don-…'t wanna! I d-…on't w-…ann-na!!" he sobbed frantically. Big tears were flowing down his reddened cheeks; his hands were moving anxiously to stop them.

_Calm. Down. Calm down, and FOCUS. This is not different than a A-Rank mission, right? _I sighed, kneeling down. I forced a smile on my lips, saying "come on, school is not bad! You will find a lot of new friends and you will be happy! And you can learn a bunch of things from school, you know?"

He obstinately ignored me.

"Naruto, _please_… it's late and you said you liked to school, so why now you don't want to go?" I sighed frustrated. It was going out of hands. And that was only the beginning… thinking about it what way was making me sick. And naturally, that awful guilty-complex swallowed me down once more. After all, it was his first time not only for school, but to meet with kids from his age. I suddenly realized…

"Are you afraid of the other kids?" my voice asked full of concern. Naruto shuddered… but he nodded. As soon as his stopped nodding, he started to cry awfully once again.

"Naruto, there's nothing to be afraid of!" I already noticed, few days ago, that when I called him by name he'd listen to me more carefully. I still couldn't understand why "children don't bite! And they're not bad as adults!" _Please, work… It's soooo late… _

"It's n-ot… true!!" He sobbed, he shrieked "chil-…dren hur-t-t… m-…ee!!"

_How can I put it!? Damn it! This is not a time __for him to be like this! It's not a thing I can resolve in two minutes… well… he will hate me, but it's the only way, isn't it?_ I licked my lips. I was going to lie and drag him in by force. I just hoped he wouldn't hate me for the rest of my short life. It was the only way, though.

"Naruto… come here…" I pulled him inside a hug. He let himself fall down inside my arms, and he kept on crying. He believed I wasn't going to make him go inside class… poor naïve boy…

"Sorry, Naruto" as soon as his name was out of my lips, I got up quickly. He yelped, confused and scared. Troubled by my moves, he stopped crying but starting again the moment he understood where I was leading him and myself.

"_NO! NO! I DON'T WANNA!"_His voice was piercing and throbbing inside my ears and head. Why did children have such sharp voices!? It was killing me!

"Naruto, calm dow- stop, please… _Naruto_…" on the edge of screaming as well, I exhaled loudly. I wasn't that good with children, even if I was a teacher. He wasn't a normal child, though… I remembered myself. But I was human as well, not a God who could resolve anything with just one blink.

"_LET ME GO! YOU SAID-I THOUGHT… LET ME GO, WHY!? I DON'T WANNA!!! YOU SAID!!!" _

"Naruto, we're going to enter"

Funny, beautiful… how can I put it? He suddenly stopped doing everything. I felt bad because as long as his voice it fell his face's colours. He was white like as a ghost. But he stopped kicking, he stopped screaming (to my ears' contents), he stopped crying and he stopped arguing. His hand gripped on my arms, frustrated.

"Please… please, not… go… please, Iruka-san…" he pleaded. He wasn't even looking at me. I felt an inch of guilt while glancing to his face. Poor boy, he was nearly having a panic attack. His eyes were still on the door in front of us, and he started to shiver.

"Naruto, it's not that bad…"

"…please, please… Iruka-san… please… _please_…" he wasn't listening to me. He would stop only if I'd turn back, and I couldn't. I sighed. _He's going to hate me. He's going to hate me… _

"Calm down, ok?" I pulled the door. He quickly hid his face inside my chest. He started crying, but this time softly. Really softly, the only way I knew he was crying, was because of my proximity.

"Good morning, class" I said with the most false smile and the most false joy I never faked, as I opened the door. Twenty-three childish faces turned to look at me. Some of them welcomed me with a bright smile, but I soon noticed they were all starting to the little package inside my arms.

_What a shitty morning… what a shitty day!!_

"Iruka-sensei, who is he!?"

"Yes, who is he, Iruka-sensei!?"

Naruto stopped, and froze on me. I could sense his body tensing each minutes that passed by. I kept on smiling, trying to act natural, and it was hard. Guess you… _it was hard as hell! _

"Everyone, today, you're going to have a new classmate!" I exclaimed. It worked, somehow, the way I wanted. They all started chatting to exchange their disbelief. _Few seconds of peace!_

"Come on, Naruto.. let go of me…" I whispered. The children, strangely, collaborated. He slowly released me, sniffing. His eyes were puffy and his face was as red as it could never had been. I put him on the floor, waiting for two things. First, his new classmates to ask him who was, and second, him to answer. Surely, I was going to answer me, after all, he was _so_ shy…

"What's your name!?" Yelled Kiba from the right side of the room. He was grinning at the few tears running down his cheeks.

I opened my mouth, but he won the race "Naruto!" he cried back. With a force I wasn't aware he had… well, until now. He truly surprised me they braveness inside his words. He wasn't afraid at all of his classmates… I felt betrayed and crossed. So why did he fought back like that!?

"Why are you crying, cry-baby!?"

"Kiba!"

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei…"

"Isn't he the demon-child? My mom talked about him…"

"My daddy too! He said he's bad!"

"Yeah!!"

Iruka sighed loudly. That was going to be hard… and it was only the beginning.

* * *

**You liked it? Hope yes! Next time, it's:**

**Chapter two- First day **

**bye bye! **


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